“We are doomed”: Hundreds of young women are being expelled from Afghan universities this morning after the Taliban rulers denied them access to higher education

Hundreds of young women were expelled from Afghan universities hours this morning after Taliban rulers banned them from pursuing higher education.

Armed guards barred students from entering the campus on Wednesday, a day after the country’s Taliban rulers banned them in a fresh crackdown on human rights.

Despite promising softer rule when they took power last year, hardline Islamists have tightened restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives and ignored international outcry.

‘We are lost. We lost everything,” said one student, who asked not to be named.

Vacancies are reserved for female students at the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday

A team of AFP journalists saw groups of students gathering outside universities in the capital Kabul and being prevented from entering by armed guards and locked gates.

Many, dressed in hijabs, also stood in groups on the streets leading to the campuses.

Male students were also shocked by the latest regulation.

“It really reflects their illiteracy and little knowledge of Islam and human rights,” said one, who also declined to be named.

“If the situation continues like this, the future will be even worse. Everyone is afraid.”

Most private and state universities close for a few weeks during the winter, although campuses generally remain open to students and staff.

Afghan female students pass a private university in Kabul on their way back on Wednesday

Afghan female students stop by Taliban security personnel outside a private university in Kabul on Wednesday

Male students join their female colleagues in protesting the decision to ban women from college campuses

The decision to ban women from universities came in a terse announcement late Tuesday from Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem.

“You are all informed to immediately implement the said order to suspend women’s education until further notice,” it said.

Washington condemned the decision “strongly”.

The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of everyone in Afghanistan. This decision will affect the Taliban,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply concerned”, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The secretary-general reiterates that the refusal of education not only violates the equality of women and girls, but will also have a devastating impact on the future of the country,” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The country’s minister of higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, sent a letter to all state and private universities instructing them to implement the change

Male students attend classes next to empty seats reserved for female students at the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

An Afghan student leaves the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday

Male university students attend classes separated by a curtain separating men and women, the day after women were banned from the campus of a university in Kandahar province.

The ban on higher education comes less than three months after university entrance exams were granted to thousands of girls and women across the country, many aspiring to choose teaching and medicine as future professions.

Most teenage girls across the country are already banned from high school, severely limiting college admissions anyway.

After the Taliban takeover last August, universities were forced to implement new rules, including gender-segregated classrooms and entrances, while women could only be taught by same-sex professors or old men.

The Taliban adhere to a strict version of Islam, with the movement’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and his inner circle of clerics opposed to modern education, especially for girls and women.

But they are at odds with many officials in Kabul – and in their constituencies – who had hoped girls would be allowed to continue studying after taking power.

“The final decision will exacerbate these differences,” a Taliban commander in northwest Pakistan told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Female students leave Kandahar University in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday

Male students attend classes at the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Wednesday

The Taliban barred girls from attending secondary schools on the morning of their reopening in a brutal sight in March.

Several Taliban officials claimed the ban on secondary education was only temporary, but came up with a range of excuses for the closure – from a lack of funds to the time it took to convert the curriculum to Islamic standards .

Since the ban, many teenage girls have been married off at an early age – often to much older men of their father’s choosing.

Several families interviewed by AFP last month said the school ban combined with economic pressure meant securing their daughters’ futures through marriage was better than doing nothing at home.

Women have also been pushed out of many government jobs – or are paid a pittance on their previous wages to stay at home. They are also not allowed to travel without a male relative and must cover themselves outdoors, preferably with a burqa.

Taliban security forces guard the entrance gate of a private university in Kabul on Wednesday

An Afghan student leaves the Mirwais Neeka Institute of Higher Education in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday

Students arrive at Kandahar University in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Wednesday after women were banned from the campus

In November, women were banned from visiting parks, carnivals, gymnasiums and public baths.

The international community has made the right to education for all women a sticking point in the negotiations for aid and recognition of the Taliban regime.

Afghanistan’s neighbor Pakistan said cooperation with the Taliban was still the best way forward.

“I am disappointed with the decision taken today,” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Tuesday during a visit to Washington.

But he added: “I still think the easiest route to our goal – despite many setbacks in terms of women’s education and other things – is through Kabul and through the interim government.”

In the 20 years between the two Taliban governments, girls were allowed to go to school and women were allowed to seek work in all sectors, although the country remained socially conservative.

Authorities have also returned to public floggings and executions of men and women in recent weeks as they use an extreme interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.